Waveguide Modes in Silicon Photonic Crystal Slabs

Dr Martin Straub

Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems, Dresden, Germany

3:30 pm Friday, 7 August 2009, EN101 (Ground Floor, EN Building), Hawthorn.

Integration of photonic crystals into a silicon technology platform is a crucial step towards mass production by photolithography or imprint lithography. We investigated silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal slab devices suitable for fabrication by 365 nm-photolithography and reactive ion etching. The talk concentrates on silicon microchips comprising hexagonal-hole lattice photonic crystal slabs with special emphasis on waveguide-type functional defects. Complex-shaped waveguide modes in fundamental and higher-order photonic band gaps are analyzed, and light injection by mode-specific coupling structures is studied. Fabrication issues and potential applications such as slow-light gas sensors are discussed.

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